In June of 2022, we successfully installed a free public outdoor Wi-Fi mesh network comprising 10 Cisco Meraki MR86 access points with 5 acting as a repeater, and 5 as gateways with Comcast Business service at 5 different locations throughout town. The network provides an area of service that covers 1.5 square miles of downtown Guerneville with the ability to further build out coverage based on additional need, and funding.

Aside from equitable access to this free community service for education, and access to human services; another primary focus of this project is to provide disaster preparedness and communication with the outside world during disasters and Public Safety Power Shutoff events, as well as addressing equity, education, and the digital divide by having available free access to our low income communities.

Those sites that have a blue pin will also have a cable modem and connection to the internet. The network architecture includes 1 to 2 solar powered Starlink backhauls that can operate continuously without power for 5 years. Please note that building owners will NOT be expected or required to maintain the hardware or modem. These will be installed in a manner that they are self contained. We work directly with each building/site owner and the ISP provider (in this case Comcast) who will be providing the backhaul.

We have demonstrated that the return on investment (ROI) for this project is about $13 per resident per year, not including any tourists or people passing through who may also be benefiting from the community resource.

Our Model

The Project - Bringing Free Public WiFi to Rural California

Using Guerneville as our model, this project works to define free public outdoor Wi-Fi mesh networks as a critical component of the Rural Broadband discussion - a resource to provide an area of service for each unincorporated community. Our challenge today is the most legislation and policy defines public access to the Internet as an indoor library offering public access to the Internet. We are working to change this so that broadband adoption in rural California, and ultimately the United States is codified as a critical community resource and a pillar of rural broadband adoption in both the prevailing decision in how the CPUC is interpreting the current rural broadband policies, and future legislation.

Depending on the size of the unincorporated communities, each deployment can range from a single access point (i.e. Jenner) to five, ten, or more access points (i.e. Bodega Bay or Guerneville). Access points act either as a gateway, providing connection of the network to the Internet, or as a repeater which allows a broader service area. Each gateway is serviced by either a land-based Internet service provider (e.g. Comcast, AT&T, or Sonic), as well as by space-based Internet service providers such as Starlink. By having multiple land based and space based gateways, each network is resilient and will operate even if one or more gateways loose connectivity.

The primary focus of this rural deployment is to provide disaster preparedness and communication with the outside world during disasters and Public Safety Power Shutoff events, as well as addressing equity, education, and the digital divide by having available free access to our low income community.

The Three Pillars

  • Disaster Preparedness

    The network will be built out incorporating one or more Starlink backhauls (once available) to ensure connectivity in times of disasters. Each of the AP’s will be installed with solar panels and lithium batteries and can provide continuous operations for up to 5 days of severe overcast, and 5 years continuously without power. Each battery is capable of providing 5 years of continuous service. This will ensure that each network remains functioning during extreme disaster conditions. If an area of the network fails, the mesh will automatically reconfigure around those that are still operating. The Starlink nodes will be designated as critical.

  • Equity, Education, and the Digital Divide

    One of the top goals of each deployment will be to focus the service area to address those income residents. This will allow students, families, and workers to have the ability to make calls (using Wi-Fi calling), and more importantly be able to access education materials, family portals and resources, including medical, as well as work and job resources.

    Public Wi-Fi is free, safe, fast, monitor-able, scalable, extendable, sustainable, promotable, measurable, and affordable.

  • Economic Development & Tourism

    Because of the lack of cellular coverage, depending on their provider, many tourists or people passing through are caught off guard with their inability to communicate with their family and friends in many of the rural unincorporated communities. Providing a free public Wi-Fi available to workers and visitors (or anyone who connects to the network) will allow each community to communicate with them. When anyone joins the public Wi-Fi, they are presented with a landing page that shows the terms or service and indemnification for using a public network. They are then shown a calendar of town events, a listing of local eateries, and a page on things to do in the town. More importantly, it can also be a means to communicate to tourists on how to be a good visitor.